A large number of cancer patients present to their physician with more than one tumor. In some instances the origin of the different tumors in the patient are distinguishable based on standard histological analysis (i.e., examination of the suspect tissue by a pathologist under the microscope). In other cases it is difficult to identify the tissue of origin of the cancer, or properly stage the cancer, if the relationship between the tumors in a patient is not properly ascertained. Are the tumors independent primaries? Are the tumors a primary and a metastasis? The answers to these questions are not always knowable based on standard clinical practice. Critical health care decisions are based on the staging and classification of cancer in a patient.
Simultaneous cancers are not uncommon with endometrial and ovarian tumors. Around 3000-4000 women, per year, present with simultaneous ovarian and endometrial tumors. The best course of treatment depends on whether the cancers are independent primary ovarian and endometrial tumors, an endometrial primary and an ovarian metastasis, or an ovarian primary and an endometrial metastasis. Simultaneous tumors of the endometrium and ovary can be difficult to unambiguously identify using standard histopathology techniques.
Head and neck cancer patients can present with two (or more) tumors: sometimes the cancers are a primary and a metastasis, and sometimes the cancers are two primaries. Two primaries may be treated surgically, whereas metastatic (disseminated) disease may be more appropriately treated with systemic therapy.
There is a need for a high-throughput, high-resolution method of determining, without a priori knowledge concerning stage or metastasis, whether two or more given tumors are independent primaries or primaries with related metastases.